“I got the idea to teach art to youngsters on my first trip into Cambodia. It was 1999. I went to a rural school outside Siem Reap that was tragically under financed. There I witnessed exceptionally talented children just drawing away in their spare time, joyous and free, and budding with potential. What if they actually had the chance to get real training, I thought? Could it make a difference to their lives? I looked at my own life and I concluded Art, and learning all the integral aspects, was truly valuable, no matter what one did with their future.

I was educated at the University of Indiana in Fine Arts, and I’d been in and out of the art world showing my art almost all my life. I could help! I asked the headmaster of the school if he liked the idea of me offering art classes, and he said yes, please come! This was the beginning of The Colors of Cambodia. There was no grand plan, no master intervention from another galaxy. It was just me feeling good, teaching kids a skill and seeing the light of hope and passion igniting in their eyes.

After a few years, with my families’ help, we bought a building in the center of Siem Reap City. On the first floor we created a class room surrounded by a gallery of the children’s work. It was immediately a success! Across the top of the building we wrote “Art Will Save The World”, for no other reason then it sounded and felt good. It became our rallying cry and our motto…. and it remains such today!!

Many of the young people we’ve provided this space for over the years have built successful careers as artists, graphic designers, tattoo creators, and in many cases become art teachers themselves. But it is more than art that fosters this, it is the community that was built around it, and the values we prioritize at the school - patience and tenacity, courage and determination, ambition and planning - have a goal, make a plan, and work at it daily, year after year! You will find success!”